The dealership, now located at 706 Metacom Ave., Bristol, R.I., has begun work to relocate to the former Baker Tractor site, an 8-acre lot at the corner of routes 6 and 136 in Swansea.

“We are still waiting to get all the site work completed so we can go in and start the process for the permits we need,” Veader said..

“We are hoping to get through the permitting process quickly. Once the permits are approved, we are told it will take six to eight months to build the facility.”

Bristol Toyota is part of a realignment of the Fall River market that began with the closing of South End Toyota, the former Fiore Toyota, 1480 S. Main St., Fall River, late last year.

Toyota USA reassigned the market areas for local dealerships. Premier Auto, of Hyannis, which owns Newport Toyota, expanded that dealership and Bristol Toyota also got the corporate green light to grow.

“My new market area includes a portion of Fall River, Somerset and Swansea as well as my original market of Bristol and Warren,” Veader said.

“This is a great spot for us. It is right off the highway and it is only 4 miles from our current dealership.

“It is convenient for all of our existing customers and will be convenient, too, for people in Fall River and Somerset.”

Bristol Toyota/Scion is currently located on 3.5 acres in a 13,000-square-foot building with 10 service bays. All of that will be expanded, Veader said.

The new building will be about 40,000 square feet with 25 service bays and a larger service writing.

“Our market area became larger, so the facility has to be bigger,” Veader said. “We hope to sell a lot more cars and serve more customers.”

Bristol Toyota employs about 45 people now, Veader said. The new facility will employ at least 60, possibly as many as 80, he said.

Veader bought the dealership 27 years ago. The business goes back almost 50 years, to when Toyota first began moving into New England.

“We’ve been a Toyota President’s Award Dealer for 26 years,” Veader said. “There are less than 10 dealers in the country that have done that. No one in New England has.

“So I’m not planning to make a lot of changes.”

Veader said he hopes to get the permits completed and the facility built within a year. He hopes to be working from the new building by this time next year, he said.

Page 2 of 2 - “We are a little closer to where my father started out in the business, in 1951, at Seekonk Auto Sales,” Veader said. Ed Veader Sr. taught the business to his son, Ed Jr. He is not the only Veader on the lot.

“This is a family business,” he said. “My wife is here, and so is my daughter and my son. My grandson started here a few weeks ago, so we have four generations in the car business.

“In fact, 90 percent of the time, someone from our family is here at the business,” Veader said. “We are all looking forward to the new facility.”